One Nation, One Ration card

The Central government of India has given the all States and Union Territories a one-year deadline till June 30, 2020 for rolling out the one nation, one ration card system.

What is this scheme?

  • Under this system, the beneficiaries will be able to buy subsidized grains from the ration shops in any part of the country.
  • The government aims to ensure that no genuine beneficiary is deprived of the food grains if they migrate from one to another in search of employment, due to some disaster etc.
  • This system will also help the government in weeding out the fake beneficiaries from the system.
  • Already, 10 States Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharasthra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura are providing portability of Public Distribution System (PDS) entitlements.

National Food Security Act

The National Food Security Act (also known as the Right to Food Act) is an act passed by the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized foodgrains (upto 5 kgs per person) at INR 1-3 per kg to 80 crore people in India. This covers 2/3rd of Indian Population. While the scheme aims to provide subsidized rice, wheat and coarse grains– Pregnant and lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are also eligible to get daily free cereals.